Real Madrid which were
in great danger 4 months ago now rank 2nd in La Liga, and they are
hopeful to win the UEFA Champions League title this season, thanks
to Zinedine Zidane.
Florentino originally thought the team
was able to take inertial wins, and the coach just needed to give some advice.
The Real Madrid’s players never found an echo with Benitez, and some of them
even lost interest in playing football, and the fans also felt bored
watching them play. Florentino trusted Benitez but then he sacked Benitez. Zidane became Real
Madrid’s head coach this January, taking over the team that almost collapsed.
Zidane arrived as savior and he also looked forward to
coaching the team. When Zidane just came, Real Madrid were 2 points behind
Barca and 4 points behind Atletico Madrid. No one expected the team to create a
miracle, but the team did one. In the last La Liga round, Real Madrid still stood
a chance to win the title, and they reached the final in Champions
League.
Zidane has been
working hard since the first day as head coach. He often takes the lead when
running with the team. He values physical training but lets the players enjoy
the training too. He keeps encouraging them “All of you are good. Watching you
play is pleasing.” Benitez used to interrupt
the players dozens of times at everyday’s training to correct their movement
and release tactical homework. Zidane lets the players enjoy freedom and he
wins confidence of the players, which doesn’t mean he doesn’t have a strong
hand, though. He also asks the players to play harder, and he puts James Rodriguez
and Isco to the bench, and he once said such players needed appeasing and
trusting, but they would not play as starters if the inspiration did not work.
Zidane likes to integrate himself with the players and they
talk about everything. He prefers chatting with the players in the locker room
after the training than going directly back to his office.
Zidane used to be a man of few words and he kept avoiding
the media when he was a professional player, but now he has great contact with
the media, especially at the press conferences.
According to a senior in Real Madrid’s top management, “Zidane
is not perfect, but he is close to.” With such an outstanding coach, Real Madrid are very likely to get their 11th Champions
League trophy.
